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Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Confirmed
Satertek writes "Following up a previous post, a teaser was posted on the Steam website with the image HL2DM.jpg entitled 'Soon', confirming rumors of a Half-Life 2 Multiplayer Deathmatch game. It was also brought up on the forums by Valve. It will be released alongside the SDK sometime this week." Update: 12/01 13:49 GMT by T : Since this was written, "this week" has turned into "now"; the update was released last night.
November 30, 2004, 8:05 pm valve
A Half-Life 2 update has been released via Steam. Please restart Steam to apply the update.
Included in this update:
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
* New multiplayer game featuring physics simulation system
Half-Life 2/Source SDK
* Includes game code needed to create Half-Life 2/Source MODs
* Ability to edit Half-Life 2 maps
* Maya model exporter
* 3d Studio Max model exporter source code
* Sample MOD with vehicles
Source Updates
* HTTP and non-HTTP map auto downloading functionality
* Enhanced dedicated server logging capabilities
* Various tweaks and fixes
*Also: A Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Map Making Contest has been announced. The winning entry will receive a cash prize of $5,000. Two runner up entries will receive a cash prize of $3,000.
Not to include deathmatch in the original release? Doesn't seem to make much sense that a multiplayer deathmatch is not included, especially in a game like HL2.....
-thewldisntenuff
My MythTV HowTo
I've been playing it this morning. I'm not too impressed to be honest.
Whereas I'm getting around 60FPS in the single player game, the amount of crap (i.e. radiators, filing cabinates, chairs) that's being thrown around in the game really slows the game down and makes it jump around and stutter. I've also been experiencing quite bad lagging on the few servers I've tried.
It also appears that there's only two maps included... Well, that or every server admin out there has already decided that they'll only put two particular maps on rotation. (I may be wrong, I haven't checked this out properly yet.)
All in all, a nice addition, but either my computer or the game could do with some optimisation before it becomes playable.
I know why they call it HalfLife. Spend any amount of time playing this thing and you have half the life you did before. In my case, that wasn't very much, but not it's even less... :(
For those who haven't had a chance to try it out yet, it's a mixed bag. The two levels included (the Prison [Nova Prospekt] level in SP, and the sniping part of City 17) are fairly small, and they allow you to use the Gravity Gun. They've smattered the levels with lots of throwable objects, so "throw and catch" isn't uncommon, but for those with only half-decent machines or connections, it starts to lag quite fast, especially with 16 players.
Weapons are pretty much the same as HL2SP/HL1DM. You've got your machine gun, grenades, crossbow (hell yeah). The only new one like I say is the Gravity Gun so you can mess with the physics.
It's a nice alternative to CS:S for those who don't enjoy it. However it's quite fast paced, and I think we need bigger levels before we can fully appreciate it. But, nice one Valve.
i hate being killed by a grav-gun fired toilet. ooooh da p41n!
IAAL
Since the latest update, I havent had any of the crashing problems I had previously been experiencing (yay). But I have also seen a performance hit of over 40fps! (previously >90fps, now mere 50fps) :/
I havent had any of the problems I see others mentioning about multiplayer performance hits- deathmatch has run just as smoothly for me as singleplayer, but all at only 50fps. I dont understand this, performance has been cut sharply in half, and the framerate is now noticeable
Anyone else experience this?
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
What happened to Doom 3? Doom 3 SDK was released a long time ago and there are few mods.
The mod maker Orange Smoothie has done nothing with the Doom 3 engine:
D3M: In general the whole Doom3 community is eagerly awaiting a modification that will bring Doom3 to the well known glory of Q3A for example. From your personal view, are you convinced to fulfill this task?
derean: Absolutely not, OSP for Quake3 has had hundreds and hundreds of man hours put into it by rhea and there is no way I could hope to put as much time into Doom3 as he did in Quake3. We can however provide a solid basis for future work and that's what we've set out to do.
May be 3D engines and SDKs are too complicated? Or was every body waiting the Half-Life 2 SDK?
I don't have a clue.
My city: Barcelona.
When are they going to rip off Unreal Tournament 2004 Onslaught?
You misspelled Tribes. Granted, Onslaught isn't an exact replica of Tribes' gameplay, it shares more in common than it differs.
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
I bought a retail copy of HL2. But I've ended up with HL2, the other game the name of which escapes me at this moment, an SDK and now HL2 multiplayer with the hope of future map downloads, map editors plus additional games and demos. I think thats quite neat.
BUT... if every computer games company starts doing this it won't be so neat - trying to work out which of the dozen client programs do what!
I would see this as more of a way to get your name out there and as a resume-builder than an opportunity for cash.
Map-making can be a great way to show off your design skills if you want to break into the gaming industry.
Damn, I was really hoping it would be a Source update to TFC. I know it would be too much to ask for TF2, but I was also hoping for some news on how it's coming along, if at all.
Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped. Calvin Coolidge
Yes, it's just deathmatch
But some people LIKE death match. And it's a solid foundation for modders.
Yes, it's not as refined as UT2K4 or whatever
Do any of these other games have a GRAVITY GUN? No? Well let's continue then.
Yes, it's pretty laggy
Play with less people or on a really good server. I played one where the lag was good enough to be able to toss grenades back, and that was pretty awesome.
Yes, there are two maps out there
They're leaving it to the community here. I'm planning on making a map myself in a little while, actually.
remember, HL2 only came out two weeks ago, and we didn't even know that HL2DM existed for certain until last night.
ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
When in multiplayer mode, your computer system now has to handle everything it was handling in single player, plus network traffic. The network traffic includes your computer now using your network card to the fullest, plus the added CPU time of the source engine computing that information into all the pretty graphics.
You do not just have one object being thrown around, but 2-20 now. The physics calculations the source engine was doing before has now gone up over 1500%. This all adds up to more CPU and RAM usage on your computer.
In MP, turn down your "Texture Detail" and hop down the resolution one notch. See how it plays, then gradually increase the settings until you hit the FPS rate you don't want to deal with. Tweaking is important. You cannot expect to run the MP of this game at the same settings you did as the SP, especially if you had the SP maxed out, due to MP requiring more resources than SP. In other words, it's completely normal to get FPS drops between MP and SP. Just downgrade your graphics. Not what you wanted to hear, but it is the facts.
I couldn't think of anything witty to say, so...you're stuck with this.
I downloaded the update for HL2 DM over steam last night around midnight and after it said everything was done, I tried to launch the game, but nothing would happen. Then I tried running HL2 and CS:S, neither would run anymore (tried restarting steam, rebooting machine, etc.). Then I headed on over to the steam forum and noticed that I wasn't the only one having the problem. Was this simply a matter of steam secretly continuing to download the game even though it told me it was done? Or was it some major bug they didn't find? I realize that whatever the problem was, it was fixed just a few hours later, but it seems like even if it was still updating the game, it shouldn't have any bearing on your ability to play other games.
I knew about this an hour before the content actually appeared on Steam. I tried to install it: nothing. Not only did Deathmatch not work, but single-player and CS:Source would not load. Their patch broke everything. I hit the forums and nearly everyone else was having the same problem. I don't know if they've fixed it since last night, I was up until 3am trying to get it to run.
I never had problems with Steam before, but now those complaints from two weeks ago hold a lot more weight. I couldn't even play single-player or Counterstrike.
*Ahem*Battlefield 1942?*Ahem* /nuff said
How long before Valve start charging a subscription to play Half-Life 2 online through Steam and then disable users accounts of those who refuse to fork over the cash, hand over fist?
Valve and their ridiculous Steam system can take their business elsewhere. My brother bought half-life 2 and had to wait six hours over a 50k to even play the damn game. Now he can't have a no CD crack, can't resell the game, and (so he tells me) can't get unofficial mods for the game without being booted). He bought an over the shelf game, no EULA at all( That legal joke in the manual does not count. "By opening the box containing this agreement you agree to all these terms etc...." WTF! Not to mention he was too young to be party to any such agreement). Valve seem to want it both ways. They want the ease of an over the counter product, and yet still wish to licence this product once the sale is made. They are two completely different things. I can understand the need for security against warez, but you can't just apply an essentially illegal practice either(i.e. get kids to sign EULAs, after they buy the product). It's just dishonest.
Not to mention that the EULA is ridiclously open ended anyway. Valve can disable unofficial modders accounts, disable people they don't like(i.e. people who complain), disable people who exploit bugs etc... . And how easy will it charge a subscription fee for online play and then disable users to play on "unofficial"(free) servers where Valve isn't getting a slice.
Will Valve do all this? Maybe.
Will companies who follow Valves' example do this?
I can feel the fans flames beginning to rise. Just because Half-Life 2 is good doesn't excuse this. Remember, this is why so many moved to FOSS. EULAs and their ilk. As a long time game player, I'm personally deeply offended by this kind of anti-player, anti-consumer behaviour creeping into the industry. I guess in some ways, I still want the games I purchased over the counter to actually belong to me, and not just own a (possibly temporary) licence.
May the Maths Be with you!
Looking at a commercial grade project is probably a pretty bad starting point for someone who wants to build an FPS. The amount of code is overwhelming to say the least and since they don't usually provide you with their design docs you basically have to figure the whole thing out on your own, which is no small task. If you're only getting into the area I would suggest building the engine from scratch as the constituents of a 3d engine are pretty well known. Of course, your project won't have all the bells and whistles but you'll probably have a much better grip on the whole thing by the end.
How can people actually complain about being provided HL2-DM? Valve gave us CS first because they realized the popularity of it, and I am sure happy they provided DM finally. HL DM was the best version of any DM simply because it was far more than just running around and shooting, and brought back memories of DukeNukem DM. The variety in the types of weapons is what makes it fun, and knowing how to use them effectively in a heated battle is an incredible experience. What's more is Valve annouced a DM map competition.
For those of you who are having problems starting Source based games after installing HL2DM (eg.. start game, hear CD spin [if retail] and nothing happens), a possible fix I found somewhere is to load the following URL in a browser:
steam://validate/320
it will get Steam to validate your HL2DM files, it fixed the problem on mine.. may take a little while though!
You're old school? I beta tested the motherf***ing abacus!
I much prefer CS:S. I hadn't played CS in over 2 years, but it's all coming back now, and it's just as much fun as ever :)
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
You can NOT download DM by NOT clicking on Half-Life: Deathmatch in the game list. And by NOT clicking download.
You have to put in some effort to download it, it's not automatic.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Lois, this isn't my Batman glass. - Peter
Right Here
"I think everyone is an agnostic but just doesn't know" - Frazz
Today i've tryed hl2dm, and personally i prefer hl1dm, its much more fun.It seems like Valve wanted to make a surprise without working much, well that's a good intention :).
Some dude said that no other game has a gravity gun, well doom3 has it, just download the mod from planetdoom.com
Now about doom3 modding and mapping check doom3world and take a look at this very interesting project.
Fucking a fat girl is like riding a scooter... it's fun 'til someone sees you.
When in multiplayer mode. . .
He isn't complaining about a frame rate hit in multiplayer compared to single player. He's complaining about a frame rate hit in single player since installing death match.
The physics calculations the source engine was doing before has now gone up over 1500%.
You only want to be told where things are.
Your local machine only calculates your local physics. The machine of each other player calculates their local physics. It's distributed computing. No need for everyone to calculate everything and then try to snyc the results. A location grid is sent to the server (just a triplet of numbers for each object), which colates them, then sends the results to the client machines, which merely have to display them. There's the issue of lag, so you are running a predictive algorithm, and some error correction, but that's a far easier task on the cpu than actually doing the physics calculations. This will, indeed, result in a frame rate drop at times, but generally only when things are getting really messy. And the physics involved in a shooter are pretty simple anyway. You should see what they look like in a high end flight or driving sim. Framerate in those is physics limited because of the load on the cpu. Shooters are video limited because of the load on the GPU.
Of course in multiplayer you eliminate the overhead of AI calculations.
In other words, it's completely normal to get FPS drops between MP and SP.
But not 50% all the time, and certainly not in single player mode as well.
KFG
I can't speak for everyone, but here is one possible reason people are behind the hackers:
Once you pay for the game and bring it home...
* It REQUIRES YOU to create a steam account just to install. They were honest and revealed in the EULA that they required an email and that they would share "some information" with third parties. So... You just gave them over $50 and they are now trying to hustle you for an email so they can sell it for a nickel?
* Once the game is "installed", you must "unlock" it in order to play. On my system, this took bloody ages. This is in addition to the usual business of typing in CD keys the size of nuclear launch codes just to prove to the software you own the game.
* You must be online to play the game so steam can log in and "verify" blah blah. Note that this is for a SINGLE PLAYER game you must be on line, just to make sure you're legit. If Steam goes down, you can't play. (Okay, there is an "offline" mode, but its more of a hack than a feature, as it involves copying files around just to trick Steam into acting like you're signed on)
* Steam runs in the background, updating stuff, ALL THE TIME (unless you disable it). Imagine if everyone did this. Your system tray would cover half of your desktop, and a large portion of your system memory and bandwidth would be consumed by all these busybody apps running in the background, updating, and bringing "special offers" to your attention.
* Despite all this security, the game STILL REQUIRES that you have the CD in the drive.
* Just for fun, go to Steam's website and try to figure out how to submit a bug. Last night (Nov 30) Steam stopped working while the patch came out. I couldn't play my game. I went to the website to find out why, and there was no way to let them know I was having a problem. No email links, no bug report form, and the forums were down.
* All of this hassle, and Steam really doesn't offer ANYTHING for the end user. If you download the game, they don't even give you a break on the price. In fact, if you download the game, you can't get a refund for any reason. All of this, and what's in it for us?
So yeah, I do hope the hackers are able to crack the game. Then I can download the crack and play the game without needing to use Steam. The LAST THING I want to see is other game companies following Valve's example.
Wal-Mart could nearly eliminate shoplifting (which I'm sure costs them millions) if they just frisked everyone as they came out of the store. Yet they don't. Steam is the software equivalent of giving you a pat-down when you leave the store with your paid-for merchandise. They need to knock it off.
--This sig is in beta. Please let us know abut any errors you find.
Don't know what servers you picked, but I only had the problem you're describing with one of them... maybe your comp or connection need some tuning? Just a thought...
Honestly, I had a blast playing it this morning... lots of action... people improvising with the gravity gun all over the place; there's nothing quite so cool as getting kills with a thrown filing cabinet. People were very good-humored about it too. Getting fragged with a filing cabinet is new/different/cool... without the humiliation of getting knifed in the original CS).
Tip: get the RPG launcher and camp on the roof... you'll rack up some serious frags.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
This multiplayer and movable objects is really what HL2 is all about. The build options are really very striking.
I played deathmatch, but it really isn't what it is all about. Deathmatch is a taste to show the community what it is really all about. Imagine a capture game with breachable walls and doorways, and people slapping up chickenwire and "nailing" wall objects to keep the windows from getting naded, things like that. The piles of junk to keep the attacker options down, and the attackers blowing debris to get to it. rfare, they are urban-like warfare on a map that only looks like urban warfare on the outside. When you can use a couch for cover and move it to hide, then we will be happier. Much happier. Deathmatch is too fast. Counter Strike is aggavatingly fast. It gives you no time to give an option about outplaying your opponent. With objects and physics, you will soon be able to do it.
Look, most of you are crabbing this one... but if it was team deathmatch with liftable steel plate barriers, and sticky mines, you would be screaming like a monkey at the top of your lungs with joy. Don't worry. It's coming. Either by Valve in a week or two or by some modders. Some things are just downright obvious. Movable barriers, wall covers, breachable areas, and everything like that is coming, it is just a matter of who is going to do it.
But why stop there?
The good news is it isn't going to stop there. With an independent physics based system, imagine the "space marine" fantasies that we always had as a kid. You and some buddies online blowing out an airlock and gravity catapulting your way through a chain of asteroids to infiltrate a stranded mothership.
Right now we are playing with standard physics settings, what is going to happen when they start messing with those settings? "Woot, I say, my good fellow, woot indeed."
IMHO, Valve solved the largest problem and my biggest gripe with 3D video games when they made a physics engine that wasn't so wonky it made me laugh. It is simply a matter of time before the next killer multiplayer comes out, and it isn't going to look like CS. I personally can't wait to flip someone's minitank with my little Somali street trash barrier. But hey, keep griping, you'll shut up soon enough when you throw someone through a building in a superhero mod.
umm yeah a very good reason... If you incrementally add features through a service that checks to see if you have pirated software it makes pirated junk less and less useful encouraging you to actually buy the game instead of yanking it off of kazaa..
Huh...I didn't think you could gravity gun the toilet. I must return to the john and try it! My personal favorite gravity gun implement had been, of course the devastating, indestructible and semi-transparent radiator, but I may now have a new favorite.
Does it hurt to hear them lying? Was this the only world you had?
I have no idea how anyone can claim it's better than any of the more recent FPSes. If you want variety, options, and not just boring kill everything modes, then CS does not deliver. Compare CS and Desert Combat. DC has real world vehicles, excellent weapons, a real need for coordinated attacks and movements.. and CS has... ummm.... errr..... nothing but the weapons. You want to talk team-based action? Come back to me when you can call in an air strike, artillery barrage, or naval bombardment when you get pinned down.
I was raised on the command line, bitch
"Nemo me impune lacesset"
Remember the good ole days of calling the Sierra BBS in California, when long distance was like $10 a minute?
"IMHO, Valve solved the largest problem and my biggest gripe with 3D video games when they made a physics engine that wasn't so wonky it made me laugh."
http://havok.com/
http://havok.com/clients/valve.php
Havok physics is at the heart of the eagerly awaited Half Life 2 from Valve Software. Physics gameplay is considered one of the key new departures in the sequel and is an integral part of the game experience.
"Making a game with the complex physics interactions and physics gameplay of Half-Life(R) 2 is really hard - but it would have been impossible if we hadn't started with robust fundamental physics technology from Havok." Jay Stelly, Valve
"Havok has been working with Valve for almost three years to deliver breakthrough physical gameplay. Havok 2, launched at GDC 2003 incorporates all that we have learned from working with each other, particularly in the area of character control and ragdolls"
Dr. Steven Collins CTO, Havok
Can we please not give all the credit to Valve?